A Record of a Mortal’s Journey to Immortality (Chapter 1201-Chapter 1400)

As soon as Han Li and Elder Zhao had left, Elder Ma turned to Ling Yuling with a skeptical expression, and asked, "Palace Master, is that Han Li really going to be able to hold off Wan Tianming? And are we sure that he can be trusted? What if this man is actually allied with the Starfall Coalition, and he lends his assistance to them during the battle instead? If that happens, we'll be completely lost. Wouldn't it be safer to continue to guard Heavenly Star City through the use of our restriction?"

"Don't worry, Elder Ma; I've known Fellow Daoist Han even before he made the deal with my late parents. Even though we're not close friends, I know that he has a lot of bad blood with the Starfall Coalition due to the incidents surrounding the Heavenvoid Cauldron many years ago, so there's no way that he would pledge his allegiance to them. As for whether he can actually hold off Wan Tianming, I'm confident in his ability to do so. After all, Fellow Daoist Han reached the late-Nascent Soul Stage even earlier than Wan Tianming did, and he also has the Heavenvoid Cauldron to assist him, so he should be the more powerful of the two great cultivators no matter how we look at it. Besides, do any of you have any better ideas? The restriction around our Heavenly Star City is indeed quite powerful, but it definitely won't be able to last for too long under the constant bombardment from the Heavenly Windfire Formation. We can't just take a passive approach and hope for the best. A decisive result has to be reached, and either the Starfall Coalition has to fall or our Star Palace will cease to exist," Ling Yuling replied in a firm voice.

Elder Ma contemplated the situation for a while but was unable to provide any alternative tactics, so he could only reluctantly concede, "If that's the case, then it seems we can only rely on that man."

Elder Ma was the most disobedient and uncouth Star Palace elder by far, so Ling Yuling was quite pleased that even he had no objections to her proposed course of action. As such, she continued, "Let's discuss how we're going to attack the Starfall Coalition, and also how we're going to break their Heavenly Windfire Formation..."

Within a peaceful silent cultivation chamber, Han Li sat with his knees crossed and his eyes closed as he made a strange hand seal.

After a long while, he suddenly stirred as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Are you going to find that Elder Ximen now?" The Endless Sky Beast's tender voice sounded beside his ears.

"You know what I'm up to?" Han Li remained expressionless, but his voice had become more grim.

"I don't know exactly what secret technique you used, but you clearly used your spiritual sense to place a spiritual marker on that man before you left the hall. Even though that secret technique was nothing special, the power of your spiritual sense ensures that none of the cultivators in the palace would've been able to detect what you were doing. I'm assuming you didn't place the spiritual marker on that man so you could invite him out for a meal, right?" the demon beast chuckled.

"Seeing as you already know everything, then there's nothing for me to deny. That man almost took my life in the Heavenvoid Hall. I'm not a petty person, but I can't just forgive a man who tried to kill me. It would've been difficult for me to kill him in that stone palace, but he's left the palace now, so it's time for me to strike," Han Li admitted with a cold smile. He patted the storage pouch hanging from his waist and silver light flashed as the humanoid puppet soundlessly appeared. It then hovered toward a nearby wall before disappearing in a flash.

After that, Han Li rose to his feet and pushed open the door of the silent cultivation chamber before making his way outside.

After passing through a short corridor, Han Li arrived in a large hall. Elder Zhao was seated and sipping on some tea, and he was rather surprised to Han Li emerge from the chamber.

A faint smile appeared on Han Li's face as he said, "Elder Zhao, you're using a wood-attribute cultivation art as well, right? If you don't mind, would you be willing to discuss cultivation experiences and insights with me?"

Half a day later, a certain soul lamp in a restricted area of the Star Palace was suddenly snuffed out. The Star Palace disciple looking after the lamps was given a massive fright and he hurriedly reported this matter to the higher-ups of the sect.

The entire Star Palace plunged into turmoil, and not long after that, several Star Palace elders broke into a secret chamber in Elder Ximen's cave abode.

Several hours ago, there were disciples who had personally witnessed Elder Ximen entering that secret chamber.

However, the chamber was now completely empty.

Even if he had actually passed away, as the dimming of the soul lamp suggested, there was no body to be found.





Chapter 1211: Battle at the Star Palace (7)


The higher-ups of the Star Palace were almost sure that this had something to do with Han Li. After all, they had all seen the interaction between Elder Ximen and Han Li in the stone palace.

Anyone could tell that this great cultivator had a vendetta against Elder Ximen.

However, despite their suspicions, all of the Star Palace elders simply pretended to not suspect anything and none of them went to interrogate Han Li.

He was a great cultivator whom no one wanted to mess with, and most importantly, they couldn't find any evidence that Han Li was the culprit behind all this. Instead, there was strong evidence suggesting that he hadn't actually been responsible for this incident.

During the time period in which Elder Ximen had perished, Han Li had been discussing cultivation insights and experiences with Elder Zhao the entire time. Of course, it wasn't difficult to tell that this was a smokescreen intentionally set up by Han Li to prevent anyone from being able to aim a convincing accusation against him.

Despite knowing the truth, it was still an extremely harrowing notion to all of the Star Palace elders that Han Li could wipe a Nascent Soul cultivator off the face of the world without even having to go after him in person.

If he were a normal cultivator, they could naturally disregard all evidence and capture him before using a soul search technique to confirm everything. However, who would dare to do that to a late-Nascent Soul great cultivator? Even the elders who had been quite close with Elder Ximent knew better than to kick up a fuss.

Furthermore, the Star Palace had to rely on Han Li's powers to carry them through this crisis, so they absolutely couldn't afford to get on his bad side. Thus, Ling Yuling and all of the Star Palace elders could only pretend that they had no idea who the culprit could be.

After discussing cultivation experiences and insights with Elder Zhao for about half a day, Han Li returned to his silent cultivation chamber. Almost immediately thereafter, Elder Zhao received news that Elder Ximen had passed away, and he was rooted to the spot for a long while. In the end, he could only give a wry smile with a resigned expression on his face.

After that, he departed from the cave abode and left two Core Formation disciples there in his place.

Han Li could kill a Nascent Soul cultivator even without leaving the cave abode, so it was just a waste of time for him to remain behind and keep an eye on Han Li anyway. It was much wiser for him to get out of there as soon as possible in case Han Li decided to kill him as well.

As such, a peculiar sequence of events unfolded.

A Star Palace elder had clearly just perished, yet this incident was completely glossed over, and it seemed that none of the higher-ups of the Star Palace wanted to mention anything about it. Even the words "Elder Ximen" had become a taboo phrase that could only be mentioned in hushed whispers. Instead, everyone was focusing their attention on making preparations for the upcoming battle.

Five days later, Han Li emerged from the silent cultivation chamber and arrived at the sacred palace again. On this occasion, there were more than 30 Core Formation cultivators also gathered here on top of the Star Palace elders.